CHAPEL HILL – If there’s a crucial last shot needed for North Carolina tonight against Gardner-Webb like the last time these teams meet in an opener, Leslie McDonald knows a good person to launch that shot.

“I’ll gladly take it,” McDonald said Thursday.

The North Carolina guard is ready for action again after missing all of the 2011-12 season as he recovered from knee surgery.

For a player who’s known for his perimeter shooting, he said his shot might be better now than before the surgery. That’s because he said he has a better idea of what it takes to put himself in a good position.

“I think I’ve done a great job working to get open,” the redshirt junior said. “Making sure I’m open and then getting to knock down that shot.”

Part of the process of ending up in the right position for shots will be something that develops within the Tar Heels’ offense because there’s a new point guard. McDonald said he feels comfortable in the transition he has made in adjusting to freshman Marcus Paige after playing along side Kendall Marshall, who departed for the NBA.

Through two seasons, McDonald has connected on 62 shots from 3-point range. That makes him North Carolina’s top returning player in that category.

For a Tar Heels team that struggled with perimeter shooting last season, McDonald would figure to be the type of player who could help rectify that.

“The open shots, you feel you have to knock them down,” he said.

McDonald said he took advantage of the view from off the court, gaining a better understanding of how he might fit into the offense.

“It gave me a perspective of a coach and seeing what he wanted to do from his eyes,” he said.

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said it could take McDonald, who sustained the injury during a 2011 summer league game in Durham, time to return to form once games begin.

“I still think the idea of getting back into game action for the first time, there is a little bit of a block there,” Williams said.

Williams said it’s usually a detriment for players who miss an entire season, but that McDonald might make up for some of that inactivity with the hunger to succeed.

McDonald said he’s totally recovered physically, but he understands there’s bound to be a slight retooling.

“I’m fully back,” he said. “It’s going to take a couple games to get used to it. … That’s one of my biggest goals, not to put so much pressure on myself. Let the game come to me.”

McDonald said he worked out most of any lingering apprehension during the Tar Heels’ exhibition game last month. And in his mind, it’s certainly not like starting anew.

“I didn’t have a good freshman year, so I don’t want to go there,” he said. “I’m experienced now. I’ve been there, done that.”

McDonald bagged 40 more 3-pointers as a sophomore than during his first season. But last season, he had none as he watched from the bench.